This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream
media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously
biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in
each source note. Quotation marks are not used.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Jun 23, 2012
Scots celebrating the anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, when the forces of Robert the Bruce defeated the army of Edward II in the first war of Scottish independence, have been told by council officials not to carry replica weapons. The decision follows an alleged incident at last year’s rally in which a car on the route was said to have been hit by a shield and a Union flag was burnt.The annual rally in the small town of Bannockburn outside Stirling involves a short march along a single street to the site of the battle.In recent years, many of those taking part have worn medieval costumes, complete with swords, axes, daggers and shields. But Stirling council has told the organisers — the Scottish Republican Socialist Movement — that for safety reasons no arms can be carried during the march. Under a compromise worked out with the National Trust for Scotland, which manages the battlefield, participants have been told they can keep their weapons in their cars and take them out when they arrive at the historic site....
Source: PlanetSave
Jun 23, 2012
Researchers working at Stonehenge have concluded, after ten years of archaeological investigation at the site, that it was built as a monument to unify the peoples of Britain after a long period of conflict and regional differences....The research team was composed of people from the universities of Sheffield, Manchester, Southampton, Bournemouth and University College London, all working together on the Stonehenge Riverside Project (SRP). Though they explored Stonehenge and its surrounding environment, they also investigated “the wider social and economic contexts of the monument’s main stages of construction around 3,000 BC and 2,500 BC.”...
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Jun 23, 2012
They suffered the highest casualty rate of the British Armed Forces in the Second World War, but for 67 years the sacrifice made by the men of Bomber Command has been officially overlooked.This slight will finally be reversed when the Queen unveils a new £7.5 million memorial to the unit in London’s Green Park on Thursday.About 6,000 people are due to attend the ceremony, including delegates from Australia, Canada and New Zealand, which all provided large numbers of men for Bomber Command. The organisers held discussions with the German authorities about whether they would send representatives, but were told it was their policy not to attend such events....
Source: NYT
Jun 22, 2012
DUBLIN — In one of the most anticipated gestures in recent Irish history, a former commander of the Irish Republican Army will shake hands next week in Belfast with Queen Elizabeth II, once a prime target of I.R.A. attacks, the group’s onetime political wing announced Friday.
Source: Lee White for the National Coalition for History
Jun 21, 2012
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently announced a new contest to encourage middle and high school students to use Chronicling America, the NEH and Library of Congress-supported digital archive of historic newspapers, in their projects for National History Day.At the closing ceremonies of National History Day competition, held recently on the University of Maryland campus in College Park, Maryland, NEH Chairman Jim Leach announced that NEH would begin offering recognition and prizes to students who make effective use of the Chronicling America database in 2013 National History Day submissions. This would include cash prizes for exceptional use of the newspaper archives for junior and senior students in all submission categories. All National History Day participants who incorporate Chronicling America in their project research will receive certificates of recognition.
Source: Lee White for the National Coalition for History
Jun 21, 2012
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) recently announced 32 Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian (LB21) grants totaling $10,356,498. Recipients are matching these awards with $6,650,021in non-federal funds. IMLS received 106 LB21 applications this year, requesting a total of $37,815,498.Click here to view the list of funded projects. Use the IMLS grants search tool to view an archive of grants awarded by the Institute. Search grants by grant name, institution, or project type.IMLS also announced a $250,000 award to WebJunction to work with state libraries in Illinois, Mississippi, and West Virginia; federal policy makers; and the national nonprofit Connect2Compete to help national digital literacy efforts effectively work with libraries to plan for and deliver digital literacy training. The grant will identify model approaches for partnerships with libraries to meet public demand for training.
Source: Lee White for the National Coalition for History
Jun 21, 2012
The Office of the Historian at the U.S. Department of State recently announced the release of its third set of public beta Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series e-books at http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/ebooks. The 151 year-old FRUS series presents the official documentary historical record of major foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity of the U.S. Government.This release includes 10 volumes from the Nixon-Ford subseries, including 4 volumes documenting the Vietnam War:“Foundations of Foreign Policy, 1969-1972″ “Organization & Management of U.S. Foreign Policy, 1969-1972″ “Foreign Economic Policy; International Monetary Policy, 1969–1972″ “Foreign Assistance, International Development, Trade Policies, 1969–1972″ “United Nations, 1969–1972″ “Vietnam, January 1969–July 1970″ “Vietnam, July 1970–January 1972″ “Vietnam, January–October 1972″ “Vietnam, October 1972–January 1973″ “South Asia Crisis, 1971″These 10 volumes join the following 16 FRUS e-books previously released:
Source: Lee White for the National Coalition for History
Jun 21, 2012
According to an article published on the website Salon.com, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has refused a request by historical researchers to expedite the release of CIA records relating to its involvement in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.This past January, the Assassination Archives and Research Center (AARC) and other researchers sent a letter to Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero asking that the remaining records be released in time for the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination in 2013.The AARC letter cited President Obama’s Executive Order 13526 mandate for NARA to eliminate the estimated 400 million page backlog awaiting declassification by December 31, 2013. However, the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (JFK Act) allows for records that were not released by the Assassination Records Review Board (AARB) to remain closed until 2017.
Source: Lee White for the National Coalition for History
Jun 21, 2012
As Congress heads toward its 4th of July recess, action on fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget bills has quickened. A number of bills of interest to the historical and archival communities have been passed by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees in the past two weeks.As in past years, it is highly unlikely that Congress will pass a FY 2013 budget by the end of the fiscal year on September 30. The outcome of the presidential and congressional elections will likely determine the timing of consideration of a FY 13 budget, especially if there is a change of administrations and/or party control in the House or Senate.Also looming over the FY 13 budget process is the “sequester” mechanism that was put in place by the budget deal last year. If Congress has not agreed on a budget by January 2, 2013, it will trigger $109 billion in across-the-board spending cuts. While the details of how the sequester would be implemented have yet to be determined, estimates are that it would result in cuts of up to 10 percent in federal agency budgets.However, despite these caveats, these preliminary numbers often reflect the final outcome for smaller programs such as the ones that affect our interests.
Source: Lee White for the National Coalition for History
Jun 21, 2012
On June 20, the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee marked up its FY 2013 spending bill that includes funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The bill proposes $132 million for the agency in FY 2013. This represents a decrease of $14 million, or 9.6%, from the FY 2012 level of $146 million.Now is the time to register your opposition. The full House Appropriations Committee still needs to consider the bill. If you have received grants or other support from the NEH, now is the time to let your legislators know the impact they have had in your community, especially if your Representative is a member of the full House Appropriations Committee, where this funding will next be up for consideration.Please contact your Representative today and ask them to support the humanities and oppose cuts to the NEH. The National Coalition for History is asking Congress to provide no less than $154.3 million for NEH in FY 2013, the same level requested by the President.
Source: PlanetSave
Jun 21, 2012
The first definitive evidence that cattle were used for their milk, by humans, in prehistoric Saharan Africa nearly 7,000 years ago is the focus of a study just published in the journal Nature.The research was done by an international group of scientists, led by researchers from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom and including Kathleen Ryan of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology....
Source: WaPo
Jun 21, 2012
Most great book lists concentrate on works of the highest literary or scholarly merit. Think of the Harvard Classics, Harold Bloom’s “Western Canon,” the Modern Library’s selection of “the 100 best novels of the 20th century.” Here, the compilers imply, are our cultural masterpieces, the Mount Everests and K2s all literate people should scale in their lifetime. You haven’t read already Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason” or James Joyce’s “Finnegans Wake”? Get cracking and break out the ropes, climbing shoes and pitons.
Source: WaPo
Jun 21, 2012
The July 8 event, which park ranger and event organizer Angela Roberts-Burton said is part of the historical site’s monthly black history educational series, caused a stir on the Internet for what some believe was insensitive wording.
“By no means am I trying to, or are we the Park Service, trying to assimilate the atrocities that slave African-Americans endured,” Roberts-Burton said Wednesday.
“This is just a glimpse of the hard work, being out in the heat and sun,” she said....
Source: Belfast Telegraph
Jun 21, 2012
The concept of waterboarding came to the fore several years ago with its use against terror suspects by America at Guantanamo Bay detention camp.But while the term may have only come to public prominence in recent years, it is a dark practice that has been in use for hundreds of years.In Northern Ireland the last man sentenced to death — Liam Holden (58) — alleged his confession of the 1972 IRA murder of a paratrooper was forced from him using the waterboarding technique. It’s the only alleged case of the method being used during the Troubles.But it’s thought its use dates back as far as the 15th century and the Spanish Inquisition as a form of torture - similar to today’s definition - called toca...
Source: NYT
Jun 21, 2012
North Carolina’s novel effort to compensate people who were sterilized under a widespread and decades-long eugenics program that stretched into the 1970s all but died in the State Senate on Wednesday.Despite backing from Gov. Bev Perdue and the State House of Representatives, a compensation package that would have given victims up to $50,000 each was not included in the Senate’s budget.“I think there’s a very strong message from the Senate they’re not prepared to take it up this year,” said Thom Tillis, a Republican and speaker of the House, who supported paying victims.Lawmakers will vote on the final $20.2 billion budget later this week and then send it to the governor, but it is unlikely that any last-minute changes will include the eugenics bill.
Source: Yahoo News
Jun 20, 2012
Were the giant statues on Easter Island actually "walked" to their final resting spots?Researchers have unveiled a new theory that may redefine the historical understanding of how natives on Easter Island transported the iconic moai statues.Writing in July's issue of National Geographic magazine, California State University at Long Beach archeologist Carl Lipo and Hawaii anthropologist Terry Hunt postulate that Polynesian natives used a system of ropes and manpower to walk the statues across the island."A lot of what people think they know about the island turns out to be not true," Lipo says....
Source: CBS News
Jun 20, 2012
This week marks the 40th anniversary of a federal law that requires equal opportunities for both boys and girls in school programs.Title IX makes no mention of sports, but the law has opened a door for many women athletes. Kathrine Switzer's story is an example of how far women athletes have come these past 40 years.
Source: NYT
Jun 19, 2012
SHANGHAI — While much of the city’s Jewish Quarter has disappeared in the years since the end of World War II, the Ohel Moshe Synagogue is a constant reminder of how this Chinese city saved tens of thousands of Jews fleeing the Holocaust.Built by Russian Jews in 1927 in the Hongkou district in northern Shanghai, the synagogue was the primary religious destination for the Jewish refugees who flooded into the city.And while its facade has not changed, the building now is the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum. It is the first stop for many visitors seeking information about what the Holocaust scholar David Kranzler called the “Miracle of Shanghai.”...
Source: Politicker
Jun 19, 2012
Samuel “Joe The Plumber” Wurzelbacher, the 2008 campaign microcelebrity and Ohio congressional candidate, has an interesting theory about the Holocaust. Yesterday, Mr. Wurzelbacher released a campaign web video in which he blamed the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide on gun control laws.“In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917 one-point-five million Armenians, unable to defend themselves were exterminated,” Mr. Wurzelbacher says in the clip. “In 1939, Germany established gun control. From 1939 to 1945, six million Jews and seven million others unable to defend themselves were exterminated.”Mr. Wurzelbacher’s video features footage of him on a shooting rage blasting fruits and vegetables with a shotgun. As the clip draws to a close, Mr. Wurzelbacher, gun in hand, proclaims, “I love America.”...
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
Jun 19, 2012
A racism row has forced Adidas to scrap its plans for a pair of trainers with ‘shackles’.Critics had compared the 'JS Roundhouse Mids', to be released in August, to the chains worn by black slaves in the 19th century.Now the sportswear giant has cancelled the launch of the Jeremy Scott-designed footwear and apologised for causing any offence....
